HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has boarded a massive cargo ship as it investigates the rupture of an offshore oil pipeline that sent crude washing up on Southern California beaches. They want to know whether a ship anchor snagged and bent the pipeline off Huntington Beach.
The Associated Press reviewed tracking data from MarineTraffic that appeared to show the German-flagged Rotterdam Express made three unusual movements over two days that appeared to put it over the pipeline.
A U.S. official told the AP that the ship is a focus of the spill investigation. Both MarineTraffic and Hapag-Lloyd, the company that operates the ship, now say the GPS location data was erroneous.
